Accuracy: 2 m (6 ft)

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

04-Sep-2012 -- While I was in the remote northeastern corner of California - after having visited [42,-120] the previous day - I decided to visit the next confluence point to the south: The even more remote, rarely visited [41,-120] (last visited almost 8 years ago).

From highway 395 near Alturas, I took highway 299 eastward to the small town of Cedarville, in the rustic Surprise Valley. "Surprise Valley" seems well-named; the 'surprise' being that it exists at all. Most California residents are probably completely unaware of this far-flung corner of their state (which logically seems to have more in common with neighboring Nevada).

Shortly before crossing the Nevada state line, I took a winding gravel road south, connecting to another gravel road: Tuledad Road. I then took this eastward, this time crossing the Nevada state line (at around the 120 degree West mark), before taking a dirt farm road that took me to a point 1.3 miles from the confluence point. I would later discover that this is not the best starting point (see below).

I then started hiking in a straight line towards the confluence point, climbing up a gently-sloping hillside, through sagebrush. I thought I was doing well, until I got to the top of the hill - 0.17 miles from the confluence point - and discovered that the other side of the hill was a steep, rock-strewn slope, and that the confluence point was at the bottom of the slope. All of the climbing had been in vain; sometimes a straight line is not the shortest distance between two points!

Eventually, I managed to scramble down the hillside to reach the confluence point, which, remarkably, lies within a rocky creek bed - currently dry. In this respect, the point reminded me a lot of [36,-114] in Arizona, which I had visited the previous December. (One big difference, however, is that the Arizona confluence point had cactus growing nearby.)

On the far (western) side of the creek, I discovered a horse trail that took me to a farm road that eventually connected to Tuledad Road. This would have been a much better way to reach the confluence point. So, a note for future visitors: The best way to reach the confluence point is to take Tuledad Road to [41.01984,-120.02238] - 1.8 miles from the confluence point. Then take the farm roads and horse trails that lead directly to the point.